Student Conduct - Assistantship
Student Conduct & Community Standards was one of two assistantships I applied for when joining the College Student Services Administration Program. It was my hope that I would utilize a Conduct Assistantship to grow in areas of difficult conversations and uncomfortable situations. I have always believed that when we are the slightest bit uncomfortable we are doing ourselves the most good for growth and learning. Student Conduct taught me how to work in a small office and understand small office dynamics. I will now take with me into future roles the importance of communicating, completing a feedback loop, and organizing email in a way that ensures important things do not slip through the cracks. These two years with this small group of individuals has taught me how much I need an office to largely feel like a home of people who care about one another. If we all attempt to do our best to uphold commitments and student service than we can bond and create great work. The heavy administrative aspect of Student Conduct gives me invaluable skills in confidentiality, in case management, and in record keeping. Knowing how to input a student from start to finish in a process not only was a large learning curve but also instilled in me an ability to self regulate and remember when students would need follow up, holds, or referrals. I could not have done this without the hard work of Karen Sloan who is the administrative fairy godmother of Student Conduct. With her help, I was able to learn how to stay on top of letters, sanctions, and outcomes.
Student Conduct & Community Standards showed me how to operationalize intervention, care, and educational moments in tough or less than ideal moments. When dealing with students in our office, there are often very large feelings and issues at play. Whether it is anxiety, anger, sadness, or shame the emotional and philosophical development of our students is on display in the student conduct process. Because of the variety of situations and student personalities, I was more successful in some respects than others Because of Student Conduct, I know that I am confident and cool in the face of contradiction and disclosure of life crises. I am able to communicate my reasoning for decision-making in a way that is understood, if not agreed with. Student Conduct demonstrates care when a student is not at their best, even outside of class. I found that this resonated with my growing belief that holistically, students are humans and humans make mistakes. Working with Community Conduct in my second year has been a wonderful experience as well. Corvallis is highly impacted by the behavior of students in their community. Our school is a unique entity that works closely with local law enforcement to address concerning behaviors. I am excited about what a new conduct code might mean for the ways our conversations with students will create educational value and responsibility for one’s own actions. Student Conduct & Community Standards was exactly the experience I’d hope it would be. It helped me grow, it stretched me in new ways, I met wonderful people, and I gained further understanding of another area of Higher Education that I had never had previous contact with. My respect for Student Conduct officers is through the roof. it is an emotionally taxing job with little to no appreciation from students. As someone who likes being the ‘nice one’ it was interesting to take on the role in the room that would typically have you labeled as an adversary. Breaking down those assumptions and building a conversation around concern, success, and paths to accomplish that success all in an hour meeting is a skill that I could not have learned anywhere else.